


Twenty-Six Ways To Fall In Love

by voidxgear



Category: Devil May Cry, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alphabet Meme, Alternate Universe, Crossover Pairings, M/M, alphabet fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2013-05-02
Packaged: 2017-12-05 12:30:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 11,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidxgear/pseuds/voidxgear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>26 different times the relationship between Nero and Roxas grew and flourished a little more. Alphabet fic for a crossover pairing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A is for Apple

Nero could hardly believe his ears when Roxas told him he'd never eaten an apple before. 

"Really?" He asked him with a cocked eyebrow. "What were they feeding you back when you were with the Organization?"

Roxas scratched the back of his neck, giving Nero a sheepish look. "Whatever we could get our hands on, I guess."

Nero had been working on the last apple he had left, having taken one bite out of it, but tossed it to Roxas. "Try it." He said, then teased Roxas by adding, "You need something to balance out all that ice cream you eat."

Roxas caught it with one hand. Of course, he'd seen apples before, he'd just never tried them. Come to think of it, there were a lot of fruits and vegetables still foreign to him. Sweets and meats had pretty much made up his diet, but what if there were all these other foods he could really love and he just didn't know it yet? He looked the apple over. On the outside, it didn't look like anything special and he had no idea how it would taste. 

With a shrug, he bit into it, looking as Nero looked back at him. The blond's expression lit up almost immediately as he took in the apple's sweet taste.

"I've never had anything like this." Roxas said with a mouthful. "This is great!" 

"See what you've been missing?" Nero teased. "You should try bananas and oranges if you haven't yet." 

***

The next day, Nero was chilling in their apartment, watching TV after a long day, waiting for Roxas to come back home. He was running late for some reason. Just when Nero started to get worried, the door opened and the first thing Nero saw was a pair of small arms carrying a large brown grocery bag.

"I'm home!" Roxas called, shutting the door behind him with his foot and peeking around the bag to see Nero.

A puzzled Nero asked, "Grocery shopping? Didn't we do that just the other day?" He got up and walked over to Roxas, mostly to help him with the heavy looking bag. When he got to Roxas and looked inside the bag, he found it jam packed with a variety of fruits. Apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, strawberries, and more. "I guess you really liked that apple." Nero said with a laugh. 

"These are great!" Roxas said enthusiastically. "And did you know tomatoes are a fruit? Who would have guessed! I hope you don't mind me spending all the money on these...."

Nero just laughed and took the bag from his hands, taking it into the kitchen. "Not one bit, beautiful. Not one bit."


	2. B is for Beautiful

From the time Nero first met Roxas, even before they really got together, he couldn't help but notice how the atmosphere of the whole room seemed to mirror whatever expression was on the blond's face. Simply put, if Roxas was happy, his whole face lit up and so did the room around him and if Roxas was sad or angry, everything seemed a little darker.

It wasn't exactly a secret that Roxas had trouble hiding his emotions. It was a pretty foreign concept to him as he tended to express exactly what was on his mind. His face, his body language, what he said and did all followed suit. It was just the way he'd always been and the only way he ever knew how to be.

Nero was kind of the same way, but only because he'd gotten fed up with giving a damn what anyone else thought about him. After awhile as he grew up, it become more of, yeah this is who I am and I know I'm not exactly your cup of tea but how is that my problem? But the fact that Roxas was so expressive naturally, in all of his emotions, was something that Nero found endearing right from the start. 

So enderaing, in fact, that to Nero it even beautiful. Whether Roxas was in his best moods or his worst moods, Nero's heart still pounded for him. He was still beautiful.

Even so, he was especially beautiful when he smiled and laughed. 

On their first date together, they got ice cream. It was at the suggestion of Roxas, of course. Nero had no complaints. During the date, he had accidentaly spilled a bit of his ice cream on himself. However, he just laughed it off, wiping his chest off with a napkin as he said, "You're supposed to eat it, not wear it." 

For some reason, Roxas seemed to think it was the funniest thing, because he just started laughing. As a result, he had spilled some of his ice cream on his own shirt as well. "Aw, man!" He said as he reached for a couple of napkins himself. "I guess we're both wearing ice cream, huh?" The blond was back to laughing pretty quickly. 

All Nero could do for a moment was just gaze at him. He didn't realize right away that he was smiling, not until Roxas looked back at him with a slightly nervous look. "Did I miss a spot?" He asked. 

Nero shook his head. "Nah. I was just thinking....thanks for bringing me here, beautiful."

Roxas blinked for a second at the nickname, however quickly recovered and smiled, his cheeks a faint pink. "You're more than welcome." 

And that was the first time Nero called Roxas 'beautiful'.


	3. C is for Cold

It was a quiet winter evening, and Nero and Roxas were relaxing and watching a movie. Nero was sitting back on the couch, his arm drapped on the top of the cushins behind Roxas, who was sitting up straight, entranced in the film. As the movie progressed, Nero noticed that Roxas started hunching and crossing his arms. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he was shivering too. 

"You cold?" Nero asked. He wouldn't really know since he was still wearing his jacket, but the temperature in the apartment did seem to drop a bit. 

"A little bit." Roxas said, rubbing his hands over his bare arms. "Did it get colder in here?"

Nero got up and walked to the other side of the room, to check the thermostat on the wall. "Jeez, it says it's 60 degrees in here, what the hell?" He messed with it for a few moments before groaning out of frustration. "Damn thing's broken. I can't get it to change." 

Roxas glanced at the clock on the wall. "Too late in the day to call maintenance."

"And the temperature is supposed to get even colder overnight." Nero added, frustration laced in his voice. "Piece of shit. Thing's probably old as the city itself." 

"I'll call them tomorrow." Roxas said in a disappointed tone, still visibly cold.

Nero groaned again and plopped back down on the couch in his previous position and glanced over at Roxas, who was clearly trying hard to keep warm as possible. His tone softened as he spoke, holding his arm out to him. "C'mere." He said. Roxas glanced at him and scooted closer, closing the space between them. Nero opened up his jacket, putting it around Roxas as he held him close, keeping his arm around him. "That better?" He asked. 

"Much." Roxas said. He directed his attention back to the movie, now content.

About ten minutes later, Nero looked back down at him to see he'd fallen asleep. He called his name in a whisper and got no response. Yup. He was asleep. Nero carefully leaned down and kissed the top of his head. He was starting to think that maybe they didn't need to get the thermostat fixed after all.


	4. D is for Dreams

While Roxas had proven that he was a pretty skilled fighter (he was even better than some of the other knights in the Order to be truthful), Nero still couldn't help but fret over him a little during the heat of battle. He couldn't help it, it was just that with every close call, a future without Roxas flashed before his eyes and, well, scared the hell out of him. He'd been with him for long enough now that they had begun building their entire lives around one another and Nero was realizing he never felt this strongly about anyone else. He'd never been able to relate this much to anyone else, to be able to communicate his deepest feelings and be really and truly understood. How did he ever live without that before? If he lost it, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. 

It was one of the reasons why he liked to accompany Roxas on patrols. It wasn't that he didn't trust Roxas, it was just that....things happen...sometimes out of your control. Nero had a pretty good idea of what that was like, actually. 

They were on patrols one evening in a more desolate part of the city, having heard signs of demonic activity. For a while, things were pretty quiet, almost too quiet. In fact, Nero began to wonder if they'd gotten a bogus tip until various scarecrow demons started to appear. Roxas summoned both his keyblades and Nero pulled out Red Queen, and together they started fighting them off. Things were actually going pretty well for awhile. Roxas was fighting them off just fine, which Nero expected because he'd fought them before. And Nero wasn't having any trouble either. 

A few moments later, he turned to see a mega scarecrow appear nearby Roxas. Unfortunately, Roxas was pretty far away from him at this point, fighting off lesser scarecrows and seemingly oblivious to the stronger foe.

"Roxas!" He cried, surrounded by other enemies. "Behind you!"

Roxas seemed to hear him, turning around to spot the larger enemy and going after it with his keyblades. 

"Watch out for the blades!" Nero warned. He had to get over there and help him, but the scarecrows just kept coming for him, almost like they were trying to hold him off. Almost like....

Roxas was doing pretty well, but he hadn't yet defeated the enemy when more lesser scarecrows appeared and went after him, wildly swinging their blades. This was about when Nero started to panic. Roxas turned away from the mega scarecrow to go after the lesser scarecrows again and Nero's insides began to tighten. "Roxas!" He called out again, struggling to get over there and help him. But he was still being held off. 

The mega scarecrow went into the ground, blades bared and barreled right towards Roxas, who was preoccupied fighting off the hoard of the other scarecrows. 

Nero shrieked the blond's name once more.

He was too late.

****

"Nero! Nero, wake up!" 

Nero woke up with a gasp, a look of panic and fear on his face. He was at home in his apartment. Not fighting demons. Home. Roxas's face appeared above him, looking concerned. "Hey, you alright? You were starting to scare me." 

Nero sat up immediately and, without another word, pulled the blond into his arms and held him close. He shut his eyes, taking in the feeling of having the blonde in his arms safe and sound. Roxas was caught off guard for a moment, but soon returned the embrace, holding Nero tight.

"It's alright, it was just a dream." Roxas said softly. "It's alright." 

"Don't you ever go anywhere or I'll kick your ass." Nero said in a shaken voice with forced laughter. He'd tried to lighten the mood a little. So much for that sorry attempt.

"Go anywhere? Nothing could pry me from you with a crowbar."

"Yeah? You promise?" Nero felt particularly childish having to ask that, but....

"I promise." Roxas said softly, rubbing his back soothingly. He pulled back a little to look at Nero's face. Nero was sweating and still looked visibly shaken, through it was clear he was trying to downplay it. Roxas brushed some of the hair out of his eyes, trying to give him an encouraging smile. "You're my good luck charm, remember? No way I'm going anywhere. Come hell or high water." He placed a quick, gentle kiss on Nero's lips. "Alright?"

Nero started to smile. "Then that's all I need."


	5. E is for Eyes

Roxas was never as much of a chatterbox with anyone else as he was with Nero. Nero could get him to talk about pretty much anything, and Roxas would just completely open up and they'd end up talking for hours. Roxas had long since come to be perfectly comfortable around him, entrusting Nero with his deepest feelings and secrets and not regretting it a second after. 

And Nero loved to listen, which spoke for a lot since whenever most people talked so much, it tended to bore him. But Roxas never bored him. He wanted to know about Roxas, his past, his experiences, his feelings. He wanted to know everything that made up the one he loved and whenever Roxas wanted to share it with him, he was more than happy to pay attention. 

Oftentimes, when Roxas was telling Nero about something he was passionate about, it showed in his face. His expression, his eyes easily reflected how he felt about whatever he was talking about. Roxas had some of the most expressive eyes Nero had ever seen in his life. Bright and blue as the open sea, and they could certainly be as peaceful or as deadly. 

Something about this drew Nero in. Without even realizing it, he'd find himself just gazing at his eyes while he was talking, losing himself in them. Roxas would just keep going, and after awhile Nero wasn't sure if Roxas noticed or not and he always felt somewhat embarrassed afterwards. But Nero was still always, always listening. 

Nero never felt as sheepish as he did the day Roxas finally called him out on his gazing though. Roxas had been telling Nero about his first days in the Organization, where he was first learning to use his keyblade and how a few of the Organization's members had even gone as far as bullied him because he wasn't learning fast enough. Looking back at it, Roxas was angry, and it showed on his face. And to Nero, something about that was really endearing.

"....And then he just _hits_ me to show me how powerful I can be at my limit and.....Nero, you're doing it again."

Nero blinked at him. "Doing what?"

"You're staring at me." 

Nero brushed his nose with the back of his wrist. "Sorry, I can't help it. It's....it's your eyes."

Roxas looked confused, but not necessarily upset. "My eyes?"

"Yeah. When you talk, your eyes they just....I dunno, it's like they do half the talking for you." Boy, did he want to crawl under the table right now. He looked away, pretty sure his face was a solid crimson. "I just really like your eyes....Sorry."

Roxas chuckled. "So that's why you stare at me all the time, huh?"

"Yeah....that's it." 

Roxas leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You know what? That's really cute."

"It is not!" Nero protested.

"Is so." Roxas teased. "If you're allowed to like my eyes that much, I'm allowed to think it's cute."

Nero tried to hide a grin and failed. "Alright, fine. You win this once." 

Roxas laughed again. "Whatever you say."


	6. F is for Fire

When Nero got word that a building was on fire right where Roxas was supposed to patrol for demons one day, he didn't hesitate and made a beeline right for that part of town. 

He got there after the fire department, finding an abandoned factory building up in flames. Whatever had started this, it had spread really quickly. If anyone was inside, they couldn't have had much of a chance, if any. He approached a firefighter, who was quickly hooking up the fire hose to a hydrant.

"Is anyone inside?" He asked desperately. Roxas could be anywhere. Hopefully anywhere but there. But just as he asked, he caught a glance of a certain blond racing past a window on the top floor. He went pretty fast, but Nero knew. It _had_ to be Roxas. His heart dropped to his stomach. If the flames didn't get to Roxas, the carbon monoxide would. 

If he didn't get to him first.

Without waiting for an answer from the firefighter, Nero ran off. The firefighter called after him, "It's too dangerous!" But he didn't listen.

Nero ran to a fire escape on the side of the building, taking it toward the top of the five story building as quickly as he could. "Roxas! Roxas! Can you hear me? Roxas!" 

Flamed debris began flying down towards him, forcing him to move even quicker. A couple of pieces came close, too close, but there was no way he could let them catch him. There was no way he was walking away without Roxas. He'd seen him running towards this side of the building. "Roxas!" 

Finally, he made it to the top floor, climbing in through a window. The air was thick with smoke and there were flames in various parts of the floor. Nero had already started coughing by the time he tried to make his way through, desperately searching for Roxas.

"Roxas! Roxas! Where are you?" He shouted. 

Then, from the smoke, emerged the blond himself....carrying a small toddler in his arms who was clinging to him desperately.

"She was playing." Roxas said. "Thought it would be fun to check the place out. There was an exposed power line and--" He was cut off by his own coughing. 

Nero's heart just about leaped from his chest. "Don't say anymore. Come on, let's get the hell out of here." He said, stepping closer to Roxas. He carefully took the little girl from his arms, cradling her close with one arm and taking Roxas's hand with the other. She whined a little bit but clung to Nero as well, and Nero could hear her crying. "We gotta get down from the fire escape, fast!" 

"I was just trying to save her, she was so scared." Roxas coughed.

"I know, beautiful. You did a good thing. Come on." 

He led them back towards the window, however some of the roof began to cave and some debris fell right in front of them. The little girl screamed in Nero's arms and he and Roxas stopped just in time. 

"Easy does it." Nero said. "Come on, we can do this." He continued to lead them through quickly. They finally reached the window and Roxas climbed out of it first and onto the fire escape, holding out his arms to take the little girl. Nero carefully handed her to him and Roxas carried her as Nero made his way out, onto the fire escape as well.

Nero looked down to see the fire truck had pulled up, with a ladder extended up towards them.

"Hurry!" A firefighter down below shouted.

"I'll go down first." Roxas said. He looked down at the little girl in his arms. "You go after me, and Nero will go after you, okay?"

"But what if I fall?"

"You won't. We'll keep you safe, okay? Come on. You can do it."

Nero chimed in agreement, "We'll catch you. Let's go, alright?"

Roxas carefully set the girl on her feet. "Just do like I do, okay?" He said, then he carefully reached out for the ladder, beginning to slowly climb down.

The little girl looked to Nero, who tried to give her an encouraging smile. "Come on, it's okay. See? Roxas is doing it. You can do it too." He stayed close to her as she carefully reached out for the ladder, following Roxas in climbing down. After she'd gotten down some, Nero followed them.

The three of them made it down safely. The little girl and Roxas were treated by paramedics at the scene and checked out just fine. The paramedics notified the little girl's parents and she was soon returned home. 

When Nero and Roxas finally made it home, the first thing Nero did was pull Roxas close, embracing him tightly.

"You scared the hell out of me back there." He said softly. 

Roxas held him close, taking a deep breath and just glad to be in his arms again. "I'm sorry. I was patrolling when the fire started and I heard her scream. I knew she shouldn't have been there but....I couldn't let her go."

"I know. I'm really proud of you."

"Yeah?"

Nero pulled back to look Roxas straight in the eye. "If you hadn't gone after her, that little girl would be dead. You're damn right I'm proud of you."

Roxas smiled. "Thanks."

"Just don't ever give me that kind of scare again, alright? I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you like that."

Roxas gave him a gentle squeeze. "I know. But...thinking of you, thinking of what you would do...I felt like you were with me the whole time."

Nero just held him close. "Well, maybe I was."


	7. G is for Gruesome

Most people treated Nero's devil bringer something like a handicap: they would stare at it but wouldn't talk about it. Maybe they thought it wasn't obvious, but Nero knew. He could feel their judging, sometimes even cold stares on his arm. Well excuse the hell out of him if he'd been under the impression that _saving the entire population_ meant that he might not have to worry about being looked down upon. So much for that. He felt as though people looked at him the same way they look at someone who'd recently lost an arm or became confined to a wheelchair. On his worst days, he'd hear some pretty mean comments uttered under someone's breath. Maybe he was human, maybe he wasn't but considering everything he'd done and how he was living his life, he was pretty sure he deserved to not be treated like a demon. 

Maybe it was because Roxas hadn't necessarily 'grown up', for lack of better term, quite the same way, but he was never afraid of it, never felt threatened by it even though he realized what kind of power it had. Was he curious? Sure. But it wasn't a defect to him. It was a part of him. Nero had given him no reason to see it as anything else. 

One day, early on in their relationship, he decided to go ahead and ask him about it. Sure, he knew it was demonic in origin, but how long had he had it? If he hadn't had it for long, how did he get it? Did he miss having two human hands? 

Nero wasn't offended by these questions. He was somewhat amused, actually, at Roxas just openly asking questions that no one else had either thought or was were too afraid to ask. 

They were at a park, sitting underneath a tree. Nero was sitting with his back against the tree, Roxas seated in front of him. Nero had his arms wrapped around him from behind and as he answered his questions, rested his chin on top of the blonde's head, some of his spiky blond hair tickling his cheeks. 

"I didn't always have it." He said. "Kyrie was in danger one day, got herself into some trouble. I went to save her, and I got hurt. Stabbed in my arm. Hurt like hell too. My arm changed. A lot happened but....in the end, I managed to save her. But after that, no one really knew how to react to my arm, so it was treated like an injury. I walked around for awhile in a sling and some doctors were looking at it and hoping I would 'recover' from it. But then everything with Sanctus happened and I realized....well, there was no recovering from it. It was part of who I was. But not everyone seems to agree." 

Roxas looked up at him with a curious look. "What do you mean? People still don't like it?"

"Nah." Nero said. "I think it scares 'em. Not that I give a crap. They called it names when it first changed, sometimes still do. Pretty sure 'gruesome' was one of the nicer names I heard. Well this 'gruesome' arm ended up coming in handy sometimes so they can shove it right where it hurts if you ask me."

Roxas frowned, looking back down and placing Nero's demonic hand between both of his own. "I like it." He said. "So what if it's demonic? It can be gentle too. It's not scary at all."

"That's because I'm not kicking your ass with it or throwing you across the room." Nero said with a laugh.

"Fair enough." Roxas said with a chuckle. "Hey, I think I'll allowed to be bias."

Nero gave him a gentle squeeze, smiling softly and wrapping his demonic hand around one of Roxas's. "You sure are." He said quietly. "It means a lot to me that you're not afraid of it or anything. You know that?"

"Well, you don't care that I was born as a Nobody, so I guess we can call it even." Roxas said, and though Nero couldn't see his face, he could hear the smile in the blond's voice.

Yeah, maybe they were even. Sounded perfect to Nero.


	8. H is for Heart

When Nero first met Roxas, he was a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. He'd never met anyone like him before and he certainly wasn't from anywhere near Fortuna. In some ways, Roxas seemed very much like a child, naive to certain things that Nero came to realize he took for granted. But in other ways, he was powerful fighter and someone who knew exactly what he wanted out of life. What kind of person was Roxas? 

It turned out that Roxas was from an entirely different world. But that little tidbit was just the tip of the iceberg. 

It actually hadn't taken too long for Roxas to tell Nero the truth about who he was exactly, or _what_ he was. All it had taken was for Nero to treat him like a person. Funny that, because it was exactly what Nero had wanted from someone as well, and Roxas had done just that for him as well. Guess they were both looking for the same things and found it from each other.

Roxas first explained to him what Heartless and Nobodies were, which was a task in itself but Nero seemed to be following just fine. Nero wasn't sure what that had to do with anything, but if Roxas were explaining it to tell him about his past, it must be important so he listened. 

"....I'm a Nobody." Roxas finally said. The last time Roxas had thought about how such a thing would sound to an outsider was when he was first told he was a Nobody. Seeing the look on Nero's face when Roxas said it reminded him of that and for an instant, he was that naive, couple of weeks old boy all over again. Roxas looked down, feeling slightly ashamed as he continued. "I came into life without a heart. Organization XIII picked me up to use my skills wielding a keyblade to help make something called Kingdom Hearts which was supposed to make us all whole again. We were all Nobodies, and my keyblade was the only way we could make Kingdom Hearts. It's a little complicated....but Nobodies....they don't have hearts. That's why we....they struggled to be whole again. I've never...had a heart of my own...." 

Nero felt a tugging in his chest seeing Roxas looked so ashamed like that, and it occurred to him that Roxas probably misinterpreted the look on his face. Well, he needed to clarify that. "Roxas...there's no way you don't have a heart."

Roxas looked back at him with wide eyes. "What? What do you mean?

"Just...everything you're feeling proves it."

"I was always told that my feelings were an illusion created by the memories of Sora. Sora's the person I was made from...."

Nero shook his head. "There's no way. You can't fake something like that. It's real, and so is everything about you. Roxas, I've been around things that don't have hearts. I know what it is. _You have a heart_. Maybe you didn't come into this world 'normally', and maybe I can't really explain it, but there's no doubt in my mind. I've seen you laugh, I've seen you sad, all in the short time I've known you. You have a heart. There's no denying it."

Roxas was so shocked at what he was saying that at first, he didn't know how to react. No one had ever said such things to him before. Axel used to wonder if maybe he had a heart sometimes, but the topic was always dismissed or dropped. Nero on the other hand just sounded so sure of himself. Finally, he smiled softly at him. "I don't know what to say....thank you. That means a lot to me. No one's ever said that before....."

"That's crazy, because it's the truth."

"But if I had a heart....wouldn't I feel it?"

Nero crossed the space between them, sitting closer to him on the couch and reacing for Roxas's hand, placing his hand over the blond's on his chest. He waited for a moment, Roxas gazing at him with an almost puzzled look. 

"You feel that?" Nero asked with a smile. "That little thumping?"

"Yeah...." 

"That's your heart. Have you ever been really sad and felt a pain in your chest? Or been really excited and felt something pounding really hard? It's this. It's your heart."

Roxas started to smile again and it steadily grew as his whole face lit up. Nero's own heart started to pound in his chest as he witnessed this. Nothing was more beautiful than Roxas when he was this happy. Nothing.

Roxas kept their hands on his chest just to continue feeling the steady heartbeat. "It's hurt before." He said with joy in his voice. "It's done all those things you said. I never knew that was my heart. You mean....I've been a whole person this entire time?"

"You're just as much of a person as me or anyone else, beautiful." Nero said with a smile. 

The blond started laughing, that ecstatic, happy sort of laughter where he didn't know what else to do with himself. Nero put his free arm around him, giving him a gentle squeeze. If he had known this the moment they first met, he would have gladly took Roxas from the start that he had a heart. But it was okay because right now, they could share this moment together. 

Roxas was soon overwhelmed with the emotions from this revelation and threw his arms around Nero in gratitude. "Thank you." He said softly. "I'm so happy about this, you have no idea. It means so much to me....thank you...." 

Nero wrapped his arms around him, unable to keep from smiling nonstop as he listened to Roxas thank him for something so seemingly simple. But to the blond it meant that world and that was all that mattered. "Anytime, beautiful. Just promise me you'll never forget it."

"I won't, I swear. Not in a million years."

"That's all I ask."


	9. I is for Intimacy

Intimacy is defined as a close and usually affectionate and loving personal relationship with another person. Roxas had never understood intimacy and what it meant until Nero had shown him. 

Intimacy was more than just having sex, so much more. Intimacy was being under the blankets late at night with Nero, their clothes piled up on the floor next to the bed, as they held each other close. Intimacy was the way Nero gently traced his fingertips across Roxas's skin, carefully memorizing every part of him. Intimacy was the way Roxas gently kissed Nero's devil bringer the same way he kissed his human arm. It was the way Roxas's body writhed from underneath Nero as the knight thrust himself inside Roxas, knowing exactly how to move his hips to make Roxas forget his own name. And it was the way they held each other close after making love, tired and euphoric, falling fast asleep without consideration to put on any pajamas. 

All of these were things completely unknown to Roxas until he met Nero. 

They had taken things slow at first, but Roxas soon came to the conclusion that simply kissing Nero wasn't enough. There was a hunger deep within his bones, something that made him crave Nero on a deeper level. Late at night they began to shed their clothes and explore each other's bodies on an intimate level, learning the things they made them feel like the rest of the world didn't even matter. Slow kisses, gentle touches, air thick with euphoria eventually had come to make up many of their late nights and it started to become an addiction. 

Roxas never knew he could feel this way and he was sure that no one else could evoke these feelings in him. The way Nero touched him, the way he spoke to him, every little thing he did on those late nights became fuel for a fire he could never seem to put out, nor did he ever want to. 

The first time they made love was something like a trial. While it was special to them both, it was a time to get to know each other on the most intimate level and find out what made them simply feel good. 

The second time, though....the second time was even better. 

The scent of the strawberry lubricant stuck with Roxas as Nero stroked it onto the blond's erection. Nero watched as Roxas rolled his head back on the pillow, giving a soft moan at the contact and the very sight of him like that just made him hunger for him even more. The lubricant was also applied inside of Roxas, Nero being as gentle as possible with his fingertips. As Roxas's body began to adjust, he took pleasure in that feeling as well, his chest moving up and down in pants. As a result, Nero lingered in doing this for a little while longer, loving the feeling of watching Roxas take so much pleasure in this. It turned him on too, and it also allowed him to get to know the blond's body even better, which would make making love to him that much better.

When Nero finally switched his position, gently sliding inside Roxas, the blond gave a fairly loud moan. Nero leaned down to kiss him in the process, letting himself linger within Roxas for a moment, allowing his body to adjust. When he was sure Roxas was ready, he gradually began moving himself in and out of him. 

Roxas took to wrapping his arms around Nero, his legs wrapped around Nero's hips. A blush painted his cheeks as he continued kissing Nero, eventually beginning to move his hips in response to Nero's rhythm. When he began to do so, Nero couldn't help but break their kiss to moan softly himself, a wave of pleasure moving through his body.

He began to speed up his pace, resulting in Roxas making a series of soft noises. Each of these little noises made Nero move even faster, feeling himself throb from within the blond. Before Nero knew it, he was making a few pleasured noises of his own. 

"I love you so much." Roxas breathed onto Nero's lips, his body being rocked by Nero's movements.

"Ah, I love you, too." Was the response whispered by Nero. Though he wasn't thinking of it at the time, later on he looked back at the way Roxas had so lovingly whispered that to him in the heat of the moment and it made him feel truly loved. He knew that Roxas would only make such a confession at such a time if Nero had made him feel truly special. Nero had taken such gentle care with Roxas that it made their sex that much more, well, beautiful. But then again, this was more than just sex. It was making love. It was true, absolute intimacy. And it was a feeling so great that Nero had previously never knew it existed at such a level. 

Nero began to pump Roxas's needy erection in time with his thrusts, causing a stronger reaction to come from Roxas. The blond held him a little tighter for stability as Nero increased his pace, the smaller boy's body being rocked even more. As he came closer and closer to climax, he began to moan louder and louder, losing himself even more. 

Roxas climaxed first, feeling the warm liquid spread over Nero's hand and wrist, his body jerking in response. His back arched and he tightened around Nero, causing Nero to climax with him at almost the same time. They lingered with each other, riding out their climaxes and then coming down. Euphoria took them over and for several moments they didn't even move, wanting to continue staying wrapped up in each other's arms. 

Eventually, Nero moved first and cleaned them both up. Afterwards, he crawled back into bed with Roxas and two held each other close, feeling absolutely blissful. 

"That was amazing." Roxas whispered. "I'm....a little tired now...."

Nero chuckled, tracing patterns on Roxas's back slowly with his demonic hand, still memorizing his every curve, every patch of skin. "Yeah, it was. Get some sleep, beautiful. I'm right here." 

"Can we be like this....forever?" It sounded like such an innocent question, and maybe it was, but Roxas had never fathomed being able to love and trust someone like this, to have them know you so intimately, to know your own body almost better than you know it yourself. He never wanted to let that go.

"Yeah. Forever."


	10. J is for Jaded

Between the incident with Sanctus and the time he met Roxas, Nero and Kyrie had split up due to irreconcilable differences that had come between them as a result of the way Credo had died. Well, that was the fancy way of putting it. The one person he cared about most couldn't look at him the same anymore and they couldn't seem to work past it. They did remain friends, sort of. It took some effort, but they'd known each other their entire lives so cutting each other off completely didn't feel right. But they couldn't be close romantically. 

At that point, Nero felt pretty jaded, because he'd invested so much into his relationship with Kyrie and had cared about her more than anyone else he'd known. He didn't think he'd be able to do it again and risk the same kind of heartache. It was just....too much. 

Then Roxas walked into his life.

Either he wasn't as jaded as he thought he was, or his mind had changed because before he knew it, his heart did back flips whenever the blond was around and he didn't want to let him go. As they started to bond, they realized they could relate to one another, something Nero honestly never had before. Not even with Kyrie. He still cared about her, sure, but he began to wonder if maybe something had been broken so something even greater could come together. 

Roxas made him feel better than ever, as though he'd become a greater version of himself. As a result he became even better for Roxas. Or at least, he did his best. 

"You must have been really hurt." This was Roxas's response when Nero told him about the past he had with Kyrie. There was a certain kind of understanding in his voice, which was funny because Nero knew that he'd never had any romantic relationships prior to meeting him. But he knew Roxas had his own heartbreaks in his past. The pain of betrayal, the pain of losing someone. Nero supposed there were similarities. For someone who was accused of not having a heart (which wasn't true at all), Roxas was really empathetic.

As a response, Nero just pulled him close as they lay in bed together talking. It was really late, and they should probably be sleeping, but sometimes they got so caught up in each other they couldn't help themselves. "I was." He said quietly. "But it doesn't matter now. I got you." 

Roxas rested his head against his shoulder, shutting his eyes as he rested against him. "Do you ever think about where we would be if we hadn't met each other?"

"I try not to." 

Roxas smiled a little. "Yeah? I dunno, it's just that.....I don't think anything else would make me as happy as I am with you, you know?"

Nero kissed the top of his head and sighed softly. Roxas was so innocent sometimes. Nero kind of loved that. "Roxas, I know for a fact I wouldn't be happy if you weren't around. I'd probably be a jaded bastard with a stick up his ass."

"I don't know about that." Roxas said.

"I do. But like I said, it doesn't matter. I got you, you got me. That's what does matter."

"Yeah, you're right. That's the only thing that matters."


	11. K is for Kindness

Kindness.

A little bit of kindness with Roxas went a long way. In his very first memories, he could recall Axel giving him sea-salt ice cream for the first time as a "icing on the cake" after their mission and it was the first showing of any kindness to him. Up to that point he was getting literally hit and pushed around and talked down to all because he was the boy with the keyblade. Even though the friendship between Axel and Roxas began to deteriorate because of the Organization, the kindness he'd shown Roxas had never really left the younger boy. It'd help made him who he was.

His relationship with Nero was no different. When Nero met him, he was lost. In more ways than one. First, he was separated from Sora. If you asked him why or how it happened, he'd had no idea. Second, he was in a completely foreign world, one he'd never been to and he was pretty sure Sora had never been to either. Fortuna. It was a nice place, but why was he here? 

He had nothing but his keyblades and the clothes on his back. He started picking up a couple of odd jobs on the street and eventually made enough money to stay at an inn for a little while. However, it ended up getting more expensive than he could afford and he wasn't sure what he could do. 

Up to this point he'd been lucky enough to not come across any demons so he hadn't summoned his keyblade other than to check that he could actually still wield it after a nightmare that he was getting attacked by heartless and was defenseless. It was comforting to know that he could still summon one or two keyblades if the situation came up. It was kind of nice though that even though he was having troubles getting by here, that there weren't heartless popping up everywhere.

One day he decided to explore the place some more and found himself outside of the main part of the city. It looked like he was heading towards some kind of forest when it happened. The strange creatures that he later learned were demons appeared and caught him off guard. 

He held his own for awhile in the fight, but they weren't an enemy he was used to and their numbers were pretty strong. That was when he showed up. He wasn't a knight in shining armor, but rather one in a blue coat carrying around an impressive sword and a gun. Without much of a word to Roxas he jumped in and came to his aid, fending off the creatures pretty easily. 

Roxas thanked him, and when Nero asked him what he was doing out here he told him he was just looking around. When Nero seemed suspicious that he was just looking around a shifty area, he elaborated. He might be trying to get away from the inn he was staying at because he was late on his payments and was kinda broke. Nero seemed to acknowledge the sentiment and said he knew it was pretty expensive there and wondered why Roxas wasn't staying in an apartment or something. Was he here just visiting?

It's complicated, Roxas said. 

Through a little more questioning on Nero's part, Roxas admitted the truth. He didn't have anywhere else to go. He was lost. 

The next thing Roxas knew, he was packing what very little he owned at the inn he'd been staying at and moving to Nero's apartment. 

Kindness. Nero had saved his life and given him a roof over his head.

It didn't stop there. They got to talking more and Roxas told him the truth about who he was and exactly why he didn't have anywhere else to go. They became attached. They became something more than friends that Roxas hadn't previously knew how to define. Nero started taking care of him even more. He bought him more clothes that he needed, made sure there was enough food for the both of them, and just pretty much did whatever it took to make Roxas comfortable.

Nero admitted that it was because he'd fallen for him, and if it were anyone else, he would probably have referred them to the Order's care or something similar. But he'd fallen for Roxas fast, and Roxas was finding that he felt the same for him, too. It was a whole new discovery, these feelings, and they made him happy. Nero gave him a happiness he'd never known.

The events shaped Roxas. Soon enough he asked Nero to help him get a job with the Order, with the intent to help protect the city from the occasional demon attacks. It felt good to help people. It felt good to make a difference.

It felt good to have a purpose of his own choosing. It was with this that Roxas genuinely started to feel like his own person rather than a shadow of Sora.

All of this was because of Nero, and it had all started with kindness.


	12. L is for Love

In the beginning of their relationship and for a little while into it, both Nero and Roxas seemed more comfortable expressing their feelings for one another through little actions rather than words. Saying "I like you" didn't do it justice, and neither did most other phrases Nero could think of at the time. Anything that seemed like it might actually fit was....slightly intimidating. A bit much for an initial confession that his feelings stemmed beyond friendship. And Roxas was...pretty much clueless as to how to express himself at this level. So when Nero broke the ice with a kiss as his confession, that suited Roxas just fine.

At the time, it was perfect. For a little while they didn't put any label on their feelings or their relationship. They didn't need to, and it worked for them. Feelings were expressed better through physical means, or through means like buying little gifts for each other, and striving to give one another whatever they needed or wanted to simply smile. 

However, the more time they spent together, the deeper their feelings grew, and the deeper the need grew to state exactly how they felt. To give it a name. 

Nero had never told anyone in his life that he loved them. Not even Kyrie, because even though he knew he had felt that way about her at one point, they'd never gotten that far. For Nero, the day he would tell someone he loved them, to actually say it, would be the day his life was changed forever. It would mean that something new, something beautiful had opened up inside him that he would share with the person he said it to, and them alone. Essentially placing his heart in their hands. He'd felt this way about Roxas for a long time. Saying it, however, was intimidating, and Roxas's naivete, while he didn't blame him for it, could be a little confusing at times. 

Lucky for Nero, even though Roxas didn't always have the right words to express himself, he still liked to say exactly what was on his mind. It was the only way Roxas knew how to be.

Roxas was never entirely sure what love was. Sometimes he thought hard about what he had with Nero and wondered if that was it. The only time he'd ever witnessed "love" was watching Belle and the Beast. He could recall Xaldin telling him that love made someone weak, and Axel said it was something special between two people that wasn't quite friendship. Well, what he had with Nero wasn't quite friendship, it was definitely special, but it didn't make him weak. It made him feel stronger. He even felt like it gave him purpose. 

Since Nero made him feel so comfortable, he didn't question it too much until someone at the Order questioned their relationship and sparked him to wonder more about it. When the two asked if they were dating, both stammered and fumbled in the words until Nero finally asked "What's it to you?" before the topic was dropped again.

Roxas wondered about it for the rest of that day but didn't have a chance to bring it up with Nero again until they finally climbed into bed at the end of their busy day. 

Nero turned off the lamp and got comfortable in bed, laying on his side facing Roxas, who lay facing him as well. The only light shining in was a bit of moonlight through the curtains, barely luminating their faces in the dark. Sometimes Nero would just gaze at Roxas's face like that, whether he was asleep or awake, because it gave the blonde's face such a lovely sort of glow...

"Hey, Nero?" It was the kind of tone Roxas used whenever he was curious about something. There were times when Roxas was just full of questions and sometimes reserved them for this time of night when they were alone together without interruption. It was perfectly fine with Nero.

"Hm?"

"That guy that asked if we were dating....." Roxas sounded a little nervous, which struck Nero as strange. Had it bothered him that much? If so, he and that guy were going to have a friendly little chat later.

"What about him?" 

Roxas bit his lip, looking a little unsure of himself. "Are we? I mean, we never gave him a straight answer...."

Nero wasn't sure how to answer. "Well, we live together. It's....a little more than dating."

"So...what does it mean?"

Nero blinked. "What does what mean?"

"The things I do with you, I've never done with anyone else. I know we're not friends. But when I'm with you....something pounds in my chest, and sometimes I just wanna kiss you, or just hug you. I like it when you hold my hand and other stuff like that. When you tell me I have a heart or that I actually matter....it just feels like there's something really strong in me. It's just something really powerful. And when you tell me you're sad, I get angry at whatever made you sad but then I get sad too." 

Nero smiled. Roxas was naive, sure, and while sometimes it threw Nero off, there were times where it was really endearing. He stayed silent for a moment as Roxas continued to ramble on, desperately trying to put a meaning the things he was feeling. Nero already knew.

"I've cared a lot about friends before, but with you it's different." Roxas continued. "I mean, you don't kiss your friends like that. I guess what I mean is, I know what this is, but what if I'm wrong?"

"You're not wrong." Nero said softly, reaching under the covers for Roxas's hand and clasping it in his own. "Why don't you tell me exactly what it is, and you'll see that you're right."

Roxas wasn't sure how Nero could sound so confident, but he trusted Nero, so he ran with it. "I think it's.....I love you." 

Unable to contain himself, Nero pulled Roxas close, holding him tight. He couldn't help it. Roxas had no idea, but he'd just tore down a wall in Nero that he'd been reinforcing throughout his entire life. Now that wall didn't have a meaning anymore, and all it took was a few honest words from this blond in his arms. "You're damn right you do. And you can't love somebody without a heart, you know that? I love you, too, Roxas. Don't you ever forget that, because it's never going to change."

Roxas didn't hesitate in holding Nero tight as well and he was suddenly very glad that he'd decided to speak up about how he felt. Not only did Nero accept his feelings and tell him it was exactly what he thought it was, he felt the same about Roxas. He loved Roxas, and that felt incredible. It made Roxas so happy he had to try not to choke up. "I won't. Just promise me we can always be like this."

"I promise."

Too late, Roxas was choking up anyway. It was okay though, because he felt a tear from Nero against his neck.


	13. M is for Mirror

"You know, I think I understand what you see in him." Kyrie said with a soft smile. It was a genuine smile, not forced at all. Nero could tell. Even with everything that had happened between them, he'd known her for pretty much all of his life and had learned to pick up on at least some of her cues. She was okay with Roxas. She genuinely seemed happy for Nero. It was pretty surreal. 

He scratched the back of his head, looking at her sheepishly because he pretty much had no idea what she meant exactly and how clarification on it would make him respond. ".....What's that exactly?" Could he even ask? He was so afraid that he would say something stupid and ruin this. Afraid that maybe he was walking on thin ice and the slightest thing he would say in the wrong direction would just hurt her feelings again. It wasn't a feeling he liked in the slightest. Not that anyone did, of course. It made him extremely uncomfortable because she was probably the only person he had difficulty speaking his mind to, at least he did anymore. He never had this kind of trouble with Roxas, and of course anyone else he tended to just mouth off at.

She smiled, yet hesitated, before she responded.

***

Roxas was a strange boy. It wasn't hard for anyone to notice that he wasn't like anyone else in Fortuna even though no one could pick out why. It was more than the fact that he wasn't from Fortuna. He was quiet around people he didn't know, reserved. He was polite with strangers to an extent and even friendly to those that needed his help but if certain thin lines were crossed, he didn't hesitate to speak his mind. He always seem to say exactly how he felt. In a sense, he was like water, and could be as docile as a series of small waves washing upon shore or as fierce as a hurricane.

That was pretty much exactly what Kyrie thought of Roxas and had picked up on even shortly after meeting him. 

He and Nero ran into Kyrie at Order headquarters one day, and Nero, in his nervousness, went ahead and introduced the two. He'd already told Roxas about Kyrie, which made the introduction....a little easier. 

Roxas didn't seem nervous at all despite the potentially awkward circumstances with Kyrie and Nero's past. He greeted her, even shook her hand and said it was nice to meet her. Things were going well until a passing knight scoffed in their direction, looking to Kyrie then to Roxas as they were shaking hands, and said, "In your dreams.... _boy_." 

Kyrie winced but before she or Nero could speak, Roxas's friendly expression instantly darkened and he called back to the knight, "Shut your mouth, jerk!" 

Once the knight was out of earshot, Kyrie clasped her hands together and started to speak, "I'm sorry, he's--"

"You don't gotta apologize for him." Roxas said. 

Nero's arms were crossed, huffing in the direction the knight had left. "Took the words out of my mouth."

***

Kyrie was in the church one day when Nero and Roxas were called in urgently to take care of a little demon problem in the middle of town. She was asked to stay there by the members of the Order where she would be safest for the time being, so she was around to hear their orders being given. The two were briefed where the demons seemed to be lurking in the heaviest amounts and immediately set off to take care of it.

"And do it quickly!" The Order official called after them.

The pair responded in unison, even in the same pitch. "Yeah, yeah, I got it already!" 

Kyrie put a hand to her face to hide a small smile as the boys rushed out.

***

Even though the Order had greatly reformed after the incident with Sanctus, many of its routines were still the same. There was still pressure to attend to the masses to hear the same old things about Sparda as they used to. 

For awhile, Kyrie didn't sing at the church and it was only awhile after her break up with Nero that she finally started singing again and when she did, everyone came to see. 

Including Nero and Roxas. 

Honestly, Nero wasn't sure how Kyrie would feel about him being there. He still wanted her to know that he understood what happened between them, and even though he'd been hurt too, he still cared. After all, they'd been friends since childhood. There wasn't a sense in wasting all of that. Not if he could help it. Of course, being Nero, and since the situation was still uncomfortable, he chose showing up at the mass with Roxas in time to hear her sing as a way to demonstrate this. Alright, maybe it was just a little subtle, but hopefully she would get the message. After all, if he didn't care, he wouldn't be there, right? And he came with Roxas, which spoke for something else entirely as well....

Roxas liked being there, actually. Kyrie had a beautiful voice. He hoped he got the chance to tell her that at some point, but he and Kyrie didn't talk very much, because he was kind of worried that she resented him. He'd been polite to her nonetheless, because she'd shown him nothing but kindness, though she was reserved.

After she finished, the mass begun with one of the Order's high priests. The boring part. Nero and Roxas both kind of wanted to leave but they knew they'd catch heat for it later. It was almost worse than not showing up at all, which they'd already done too many times.

In the middle of it, Kyrie came down the aisle took the empty seat next to Nero. "What's wrong?" She asked in a whisper. It didn't exactly take a mind reader to tell the boys were restless. 

Nero huffed. "All this preachin's--"

"--putting us to sleep." The finished sentence came from Roxas, who looked just as bored as Nero.

Kyrie gave a sympathetic look and Roxas leaned over in Kyrie's direction, Nero between them, and frowned. "Do they ever stop to think they might not understand Sparda as well as they think? I never hear them mention the most important thing that made him who he is."

"What's that?" Kyrie asked.

"That he had a heart."

Nero just smiled and Kyrie noticed it instantly.

***

So what did Kyrie think that Nero saw in Roxas? Nero really had no idea exactly how Kyrie would respond and it even made him a little nervous.

"Because...he's like your mirror." She finally said. 

It certainly wasn't the response Nero was expecting, but it was even better. So much better that, in fact, Nero was rather fond of the description. Roxas was his mirror. He really liked that way that sounded.

"Yeah...yeah, I guess he is." He said with a smile.

He had closure between him and Kyrie and a wonderful new way to describe how exactly he thought of Roxas. It didn't get much better than this.


	14. N is for Nobody

Even though Roxas had been able to join the Order of the Sword with Nero and start a brand new life, he was never truly able to forget his past. No matter how hard he tried, there always seemed to be a reminder that he wasn't like anyone else and he never would be. 

He supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised that the Order eventually started asking questions. After all, he had a very unique skill set and a weapon no one in Fortuna had ever seen before, and the residents of Fortuna, particularly the Order, had some some really weird things. So where did Roxas come from? Who was he? Why couldn't anyone find anything from his past at all? 

"Who are you?" Was the exact question posed to him by an Order superior after a mission one day. He and Nero were about to leave headquarters and head home after giving a report about how the day's events had gone.

Roxas turned back, raising an eyebrow, confused by the question. He and this official saw each other on a regular basis. "I'm Roxas. What do you mean?" Next to him, Nero slowly looked back at the official as well, gazing at him suspiciously.

"Not your name. Who are you really? You've never told us anything about yourself before you came to Fortuna."

Roxas's confusion slowly began to replace itself with a sense of anxiety. "I've worked loyally for you for two months now. Don't tell me you're questioning me now."

"The demon you took down today on your own was one that some of our most experienced knights had fallen against. You're a kid. What makes you so special? Your skill set makes it almost as though you're not even human."

Nero immediately pulled a fist back, a sudden onset of boiling blood rushing through him. Roxas held out his arm in front of him to stop him, and Nero stopped, but it didn't keep him from the dark glare he shot at the official and a few of his own words harshly spitting out. "Who the hell do you think are you, jackass?"

Roxas was plenty angry himself. "In case you forgot, not all of us in the room are entirely human born, but it doesn't change our loyalties."

"I'm not questioning your loyalty." The official insisted, calm as ever. "I'm questioning your origin, which you seem to make an effort to avoid explaining. That avoidance is worrisome. Surely you have nothing to hide, Roxas, unless you fear it could interfere with your career as one of our best knights."

Roxas hesitated. He was pretty sure he was being threatened on one level or another, and losing his job with the Order meant that he'd lost a lot of the rebuilding he'd done with Nero. Not to mention, he didn't want any of his mistakes to hinder Nero at all, should the Order decide to involve him somehow because of their relationship.

"Screw you, he doesn't have to tell you anything." Nero said, still considerably angry. "He does your dirty work and never complains. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Wait." Roxas interjected. "I'll tell him."

"Roxas...."

The official crossed his arms, looking at Roxas expectantly.

"I'm....not from this world. I was...accidentally created from someone else. That's the short version of it. You were right, I'm not really human. I'm a 'Nobody'."

"No." Nero said immediately, looking Roxas right in his eyes. "That's bullshit. I don't care how you were 'made' or whatever, you're human. You're not a 'Nobody'. That's a bullshit term fed to you by the assholes who used you for so long, a bullshit term a part of their bullshit agenda they fed to you to keep you around so they could continue using you. They made you believe you were nothing so you would believe you couldn't run, but you did, and now you're here. You're not a 'Nobody', you're not nothing. You're Roxas, and you're human, which is why this question about where you came from is just as much bullshit as that is." His glare shifted back to the Order official, who stared at him blankly, surprised.

Roxas was looking down, Nero's words ringing in his head over and over. "I....I never thought about it that way....."

Nero turned and started to leave again, walking with heavy steps. "Come on, beautiful. Let's go home. This mess doesn't matter."

Roxas quickly followed after him, deciding not to give the speechless official so much as a glance afterward. Maybe Nero was right. Maybe he really was human after all.


	15. O is for Orphan

After a hard day of running around like headless chickens for the Order of the Sword, Nero and Roxas laid together in bed, watching TV and just relaxing. Nero half-sat up, leaned back against the headboard, and Roxas was curled up against him, leaning his head against his chest. Perfect way to end a tough day if you asked Roxas. He wasn't even paying attention to what was on TV, instead he lost himself in his thoughts, unwinding from the day's events. He felt peaceful, relaxed.

For several minutes, they were quiet, and Roxas wasn't sure if Nero was paying attention to the TV or if he had zoned out just as he did, but either way his thoughts had made him curious about something he'd been meaning to ask Nero anyway. 

"Hey Nero...."

"Hm?" Nero clearly sounded, and looked, exhausted but hopefully he wouldn't mind Roxas picking at his brain a bit.

"I've told you about my past and everything. I kind of wonder....what about you? I mean, your family, and all that kind of stuff?"

"Don't got one." Nero replied, only a faint hint of bitterness in his voice. The bitterness would probably be more apparent if he wasn't so tired, but he didn't mind Roxas asking all the same.

Roxas looked up at him, puzzled. How did Nero not have a family? Wasn't that something all people had? People that didn't, you know, come to being like Roxas.... "What do you mean?" He asked.

Nero shifted his position slightly, allowing himself to wrap his arms around Roxas as he spoke to him, eyes on the TV even though he wasn't really paying attention to it. "I've never known my parents. I grew up in the Order's orphanage. They found me when I was a baby, they raised me. Most of the kids didn't like me, except for Kyrie, which is how we became friends. I always knew I was a little different."

Roxas frowned, looking a little sad. "So...you don't even have a family?"

Nero shrugged, though Roxas thought his eyes looked a little heavier. "I might be related to the Old Ma--to Dante, somehow. But I've never bothered to track him down and ask him about it. I mean, I've gone this long not knowing, you know? But other than that....no, I don't have a family." He'd say Kyrie was the closest thing he had to a sister, but things had gotten a little complicated.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's just my life."

"I don't know much about families, but it seems to me that if you love someone enough and they become a permanent part of your life, they're pretty much family, right?"

Nero bit his lip in thought. He wasn't really sure where Roxas was going with this, if anywhere, but the way he phrased that did get him thinking. Roxas had that effect on him sometimes, it was strange, but he kind of liked it. Sometimes a different perspective was good to have. "Yeah....I guess so. I've never thought of it that way, but sure. Sounds reasonable to me."

"Then...we're family." 

For a moment, Nero didn't speak, hardly able to believe what Roxas had just said. He kind of blamed that on the fact that no one, not even Kyrie, had told him they were family before. No one ever told him they might even be "like family" before. But here was Roxas, with a slightly naive idea to the way basic things that most people take for granted work, saying Nero was his family. Maybe it wasn't so naive, actually....

He smiled, giving Roxas a gentle squeeze. "Yeah. Yeah, we are, in a sense. You're absolutely right, beautiful."


End file.
